


Cerb Shep AU - Teasers

by CuriosityIsAWeakness



Series: For Humanity [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Past Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-10 21:53:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15958277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriosityIsAWeakness/pseuds/CuriosityIsAWeakness
Summary: A disillusioned Shepard, angered by the inaction of the alliance and the council to the reaper threat, rejoins Cerberus in the fight for the survival of humanity. Haunted by her own death, she strives not only to survive but for immortality.An AU where Shepard stays with Cerberus. This story will cover all of Mass Effect 3 with many canon divergences.Sequel already planned.Right now this is just some bits and pieces to gauge interest. I'm ankle deep in too many fics and need to focus on one to finish. This one has a full outline mapped out and a premise for the sequel.





	1. Teaser 1 - Leaving Earth

**Author's Note:**

> This would probably be the opening chapter.  
> In this story, Shepard is pretty pissed that no one did anything after the events of the Arrival DLC. Dying has also messed her up and changed her view about everything.
> 
> I'm promised my friend I wouldn't write any other fanfics until I finished the one I started, but sometimes things just need to be written.

The cacophonous blare of a reaper reverberated in the air, the echo of it causing the earth to tremble. Heads turned toward the sound, faces draped in fear, trying to gauge how close they were to death.

“Shepard come on, let's go!” Kaidan’s outstretched hand hung in the air, waiting for the Commander to take it. She barely acknowledged it, her attention focused solely on the Admiral beside her.

“I don’t take orders from you anymore remember?” With the chaos all around them, it was easy for Kaidan and Anderson to miss the acerbic tone of her voice. A glimmer of metal flew towards her as she deftly caught the steel dog tags. She ran her thumb over the newly imprinted name on the cold steel, her old tags were colder still, lost somewhere in space.  

“Consider yourself reinstated.” She could see the sincerity in Anderson’s face, in it a plea for forgiveness. His orders to get the support of the Council and the other races made sense, but it was far too late for that. They had squandered precious months, time paid for with the blood of three hundred thousand batarians. She had to make other plans.  A shuttle swerved in and landed beside them, the Alliance logo emblazoned across its side, in a paint that looked a little too new. Shepard clenched her fist and threw the last vestige of her Alliance ties back at Anderson.

“No, I think not.”

Shepard turned and walked away from the Normandy looking back only once, her gaze locking on Kaidan. He tried to find the answer to his unspoken question within those piercing pale blue eyes, but saw only pity. The hatch door to the shuttle opened revealing a lithe figure clad in a white leather catsuit reaching out to help Shepard board the shuttle. Kaidan’s limbs went numb as he instantly recognized the woman as the dark haired Cerberus Agent who was with Shepard on Horizon. A helpless feeling spread throughout his body, his mouth unable to utter the words that he was thinking.

_What the fuck just happened?_

*****

_ **20 hours ago** _

Intercepted Cerberus Transmission Origin:Mars 

 

> “Miranda. The Alliance channels are buzzing.”
> 
> “Yes, I know, I read your message.”
> 
> “The Reapers have arrived.”
> 
> “Is Mars ready?”
> 
> “I have to improvise.”
> 
> “Try to keep the bloodshed minimal Doctor.”
> 
> “Acknowledged.”
> 
> “We’ll pick you up in 24 hours.”

*****

_ **10 hours ago** _

Selene Shepard sat facing the floor to ceiling windows, watching the sun set in the cloud laden sky. A soft glow illuminated her face, the reflection of a burning note barely visible in the glass. She lowered the remnants of the note onto a repurposed plate with three lit cigarettes burning idly, their columns of ash maintaining the perfect cylindrical shape of its former self. Selene picked up each cigarette and smashed it into the plate, the ashes of the cigarettes mingling with the ashes of the note.

*****

_ **30 minutes ago** _

“Commander, I didn’t know you smoked?”

Selene stepped into the living quarters, drying her dark hair with a towel, watching James as he poked the plate of ashes on the sill of the window.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know Lieutenant.”

“Who smuggled this in for you?” He pointed down at the tray, frown plastered on his face.

“You can add that to the list as well.”

“Smoking will kill you.”

“So will batarians with bullets.”

“Well, my job is to keep you alive from that.” James puffed out with that declaration. Selene shook her head at how naive he truly was.

“My job was to save the galaxy.” She spoke nonchalantly as she threw the towel down on a random chair.

“Isn’t it still your job?”

Selene grew weary of the forced banter and assailment of questions and aimed a finger to her uniform.

“I don’t see a name tag. Do you?”

“So, like, that’s it? You don’t care about saving anyone else?"

“Who was there to save me?” Anger welled within Selene. She gave up everything trying to save the lives of her crew. What will it take for people to appreciate that she died for them. Was her life worth so little? “Let the weak die, so that the strong can live.”

“What of saving innocents and serving with honor and duty?” James looked bothered by her blase comments but Selene bristled at the poorly disguised accusation.

“Have you forgotten? I’ve died once already for duty.” She inhaled a steadying breath as she backed down from the Lieutenant.  “Death is everywhere. It's a part of life.”

“Then are you not afraid of death?”

She hesitated at his question. It may have looked like she merely paused to think of an answer, but Selene was doing everything in her power to keep from trembling.

“I heard my own heart beating, the blood pounding in my veins faster and faster, until it started to get slower and slower. Every breath I took, felt like I had not breathed at all, and no matter how much I took in, I could feel my lungs collapsing. The pain was unimaginable, unlike anything I’ve ever felt. Everything was cold. So cold it stung like a thousand needles stabbing every part of my body, until everything became very still. And I welcomed it.”

She looked at James, eyes watery but cold. Tears will never again be shed over that part of her life. “There is nothing to fear in death. Death is nothingness. What I am terrified of Lieutenant, is _dying_.”

*****

 


	2. Teaser - 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a Chapter Post Sur'Kesh. Garrus' Admission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another partial chapter to gauge interest.

His omni tool flashed a little orange light indicating that he received a message.  Garrus looked over at his pile of armor stacked in the corner of the main battery. He rubbed a sore spot between his shoulder plates that not even the hottest of showers could subdue before reaching out for his omni tool. He leaned back on his cot before pulling up the encrypted message. His mandibles clicked in mild annoyance until he realized that the encryption key was one that he had used once before. An orange glow lit his face as the message sprung up on the interface.

> _ Garrus,  _
> 
> _ Seeing you on Sur’Kesh should not have been a surprise, but surprised I was all the same. I want you to know that I’m still on your side. The side that fights against the reapers, to save as many lives as possible. Not everyone will survive this war. Only the strong will. Those that can make the decisions that need to be made. I know that you’ll survive. You were always a fighter.   _
> 
> _ When I end this war, come find me. Until then, stay out of my crosshairs. _

Garrus’ heart pounded in his chest when he realized who the message was from. He promptly popped in the code to re-encrypt the message and lay back down on his cot, eyes trained on the pipes and ductwork meandering across the ceiling. He could feel his blood churning in his veins, his thoughts scrambling to form a coherent response.  _ Those eyes.  _ A pale blue to match his own. He was too far on Sur’Kesh to actually see the piercing crystal blue orbs but he could see them as clear as day as if she was in front of him right now. He closed his eyes and recounted their encounter from earlier in the day.

\-----

Garrus cursed when he saw the red dot of a sniper run across his chest. “Sniper!” He dodged behind some cover bringing the scope of his own rifle to his eye to shoot his enemy before they could secure the shot. He looked into the scope and saw framed in the reticle, a human female with long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her face was obscured by the rifle but he knew in an instant who it was. She lifted her head from the scope and Garrus shivered at her icy stare. 

He might have imagined it, but he thought he saw her trademark crooked smile. A smirk that screamed mischief and was usually reserved for breaking rules, and breaking hearts. It lasted only an instant, as she shifted her rifle and fired a shot into the dying Cerberus soldier that Kaidan was trying to interrogate. The brains, or rather what was left of his organic matter, splattered across the newly minted SpecTRe. Now all their eyes were on Shepard as she waved from her shuttle as it pulled away from Sur’Kesh. 

“Shepard?” Kaidan’s stunned voice echoed in Garrus’ mind. It was only then that he realized that he was gripping his rifle so tight that his talons were aching. 

\-----

Garrus snapped his eyes open and ran a talon across his chest like a lover’s caress, retracing the path the sniper laser had taken while shuddering at the motion. She could have taken the shot before he even realized she was there. He could have taken the shot after she lifted her head from her scope. 

_ But those eyes. _

He remembered those eyes, looking up at him, from  _ beneath _ him. Garrus had pondered whether or not he should have told Kaidan about his tryst with Shepard before the Omega 4 relay. It was supposed to be a one time, “We’re probably going to die after this, so why not?” kind of thing but he just couldn’t let it go. What started off as playful banter had turned into a lascivious romp which left him longing for more. 

Of course, those feelings were never discussed as she was promptly incarcerated after the destruction of the Batarian homeworld. When he had found out why she had did it, he immediately marched up to the Turian brass and demanded to be heard. They partially appeased him and although the dismissal was infuriating, it was more than he could say for any of the other races. He sent her updates periodically, unsure if the Alliance was even letting her receive communications. He kept it purely professional but he was hopeful to rekindle any of the spark that they might have had. 

Garrus lay awake many nights, like he was now, thinking about her. They had agreed beforehand that their night together would just be a momentary diversion and he tried to quash the feelings that rose up inside him, but he could remember what it was like to have her in his arms. Soft and warm, with an icy fire burning in her eyes. A fire burning for him, engulfing him in flames of desire. Her moans were delicious, as was his name on her lips. The scent of her arousal caused his mandibles to flare and the way she stroked his fringe drove him wild. He hadn’t realized then, that he was in love.

Kaidan had mistook Garrus’ awkwardness at Palaven for having bumbled his rank, but it was the uncomfortable and clumsy feeling of what to say or do when meeting someone’s ex. Sure Kaidan had walked away from Shepard on Horizon, and she was clearly hurt by it, but he wondered if there was still anything between them? The thought rankled Garrus to the core. What if Shepard’s insistence on keeping it casual was because she still harbored feelings for the human biotic? His photo was on her desk in her quarters on the SR-2, although it did disappear after Horizon.  Things said in the heat of the moment though, can always be recanted. 

Garrus sighed and rolled over to his side on the cot. He looked around the main battery, his eyes focusing on the spot where she had sat when she offered to test his reach and her flexibility. He flared his mandibles in what would pass as a Turian smile. It was fleeting however as an uneasiness pooled internally. Everything felt wrong. Right now, the Major was in command of this ship but it will never be  _ his  _ ship. It’s Shepard’s ship, always has been and always will be. 

Shepard is the one that saved him from the merc groups in Omega. It was Shepard who helped him get his vengeance on Sidonis. It was Shepard that stalled the reaper invasion to give the galaxy a fighting chance. She was the one that inspired loyalty. She was the one that he would follow on a suicide mission.  She was the one that despite dying, had come back to save the entirety of humanity. What has Major Alenko ever done to inspire that in him? 

_ What am I doing here?  _ Garrus knew he couldn’t just up and run off to her side like a lovesick puppy. The Turian reaper advisor running off to join the Human Centric Terrorist Group Cerberus was not a headline that would inspire the troops. He had to put some faith that the Alliance and the Council were doing all they could to fend off the reapers. He already believed that whatever Shepard was doing, was for the greater good. He just hoped he would not get in her way.   _ Had she sent messages to the others? Or did she single me out? _ Garrus clung to the thought as he activated his omni-tool to write his reply.

 

> _ If a gunship couldn’t kill me, what makes you think a sniper shot will? _
> 
> _ Were you trying to give me a new set of scars? Still dig them huh? _
> 
> _ When this is over, your Archangel will find you.  _
> 
> _ I promise. _

**Author's Note:**

> Is this something you'd want to keep reading?


End file.
